tiny internet addiction

i've been having a problem with the internet.  (perhaps it has replaced cigarettes in my life?)  so funny enough i found some helpful advise while tooling around on ... the internet.  from the great keri smith:

"I am attempting to spend less time on the internet these days, (notice 'surf the web' did not make it onto the list.) I find it to be eating up large chunks of my time, time that might be better spent on other things, things on the list for example. I realized that my daily blog list is as long as a good size dissertation. In some ways it has become just as consuming as television, which I cut out completely a year and a half ago. The main reason being I started to weigh the value of the experience, what was I getting from it? Did it fulfill me in some way or was I just watching mindlessly? The answer for the most part was yes and so I turned it off as an experiment. I also wanted to really notice how mass media made me feel. I discovered that I was responding emotionally to a lot of news stories and in the course of a day I could expend a lot of energy this way.
I like to try things as 'experiments', it doesn't sound nearly imposing as, "I'm quitting." The result is also that I don't feel deprived of the thing, but instead more like I always have a choice in the matter and right now I'm choosing to opt out to try something different. To see what will happen, how it will affect my life.
Truthfully I get a lot from other creatives on the web, I love reading about other artist's processes, getting inspired, making friends or finding an illustrator that kicks my ass. What I'm striving to cut down on is the mindless connecting, the moments when you look up and realize you have been reading about something you really care nothing about for the last hour.
I want to be conscious about what I'm taking in. I want to nourish my brain and psyche a bit more, give it some love."

mmm... yes helpful stuff.  must remember this on saturday when i try to get to work and not get sucked in to interwebworld all day long.  also planning to try out her idea of morning collage to warm up.  see more here.

(and was surprised and saddened to hear the poor girl has cancer in her eye.  boo.   damn that cancer.)

studio mela

I want these ones.  Especially "it is going to be ok."  I ask c to tell me that on a regular basis, so a poster may be helpful. 
(they are also from here.)

yunmee kyong

have you seen this? via IF blog
super inspiring, especially when she talks about her thoughts about taking up illustration late in life.

and this!

from the same place.

he he he he he

via here

One day I'd like to get married

Via here.
The bride, Cheri, also has a blog, where she shows off cool things she makes.

I want this!

Monsters and Miracles: A Journey through Jewish Picture Books

if you happen to be going to LA between now and Aug. 10th this is something you should know about.  

http://www.skirball.org/index.php?option=com_ccevents&scope=exbt&task=detail&oid=41


(oh but it will also be at the eric carle museum in massachusetts in the fall!  we really need to go there.)

hanoch piven again.

(so sweet!  his voice is so amazing!  i think i'll try to get john to get this app so i can play with it.  or maybe i should just make real object collages of things.  hm...  will post pictures either way.)

______________________________
2 hours later, thanks john!:

kitty crowther

Is amazing!
She won the Astrid Lindgren award this year. But that's not why she is amazing.
Just look at these pictures! [sadly, cannot find much of her work online, and just the one book in English - she is Belgian, just like Mademoiselle Alemagne]

sara lundberg

So, I found this Swedish publisher [as you might know I am OBSESSED with Sweden.....] They have an amazing catalog and I wish I knew Swedish. Maybe I should learn.

But I also found this girl Sara Lundberg [again, Swedish, why don't I speak it????] - these are from her first book, but there are so many more here.

oh gosh, it's like girl porn.

was researching source photos for a drawing i was working on this week at http://www.gettyimages.com/ and found this doozy!  (when i post finished piece on my blog you will see it does actually relate, was not just pathetically looking up photos of handsome men holding babies.)  anyway, really i wanted to check in and see if you use getty images already for source photos.  they are great and have a really good sorting tool so is easier to find what you need without getting sucked off into cyber la la land. 

frank dormer

pretty hilarious.  this drawing is called yoga.  more here.

children's books as philosophy teaching tools

The Examined Life, Age 8

Philosophical reasoning taught in the second grade.

 

how great is this?!

emily martin

first i found this image on a blog. 
and then i found her etsy page.
and then i found her blog and her fashion blog. 
and i have to say she is really adorable.  i love this print but i'm not sure i like the paintings much.  but maybe i'll run into her on hawthorne someday, she's a portlander. 
also, note that she has sold 30,000 (!) items on etsy.  whoa!

what i grew up looking at

There is a girl who comments on my blog and whose work I really really like - this whole time I've been reminded of something that I couldn't place my finger on - and today I realized what it was - there were these Russian illustrators that I grew up with - they drew pictures for everything and are amazing. This is Little Match Girl, obviously, but some other pictures are here and here.

emilie boudet

more here

Lee White

 

lives in portland, and is real good.  his website here.

i found a ring that I want!

via here.

more twilight

another review of twilight here.
i am obsessed with these reviews - but i still don't really want to read the book.

Jonah Lehrer

is my secret crush.  (hm... not so secret anymore.)

and has this to say about increasing creativity by redecorating your room(!) :

"There's a neat list of variables that reliably (at least reliably in the lab) increase certain forms of creativity. There is, for instance, the blue room effect, and the benefit of spatial distance, and the bonus of living abroad, and the perk of thinking like a 7-year old. Here's a new creative strategy:

Previous research has characterized insight as the product of internal processes, and has thus investigated the cognitive and motivational processes that immediately precede it. In this research, however, we investigate whether insight can be catalyzed by a cultural artifact, an external object imbued with learned meaning. Specifically, we exposed participants to an illuminating lightbulb - an iconic image of insight - prior to or during insight problem-solving. Across four studies, exposing participants to an illuminating lightbulb primed concepts associated with achieving an insight, and enhanced insight problem-solving in three different domains (spatial, verbal, and mathematical), but did not enhance general (non-insight) problem-solving.

So for those taking notes at home: if your work involves moments of insight, it's probably best to work in a bright blue room, surrounded by pictures of lightbulbs and little kids."

well, my room is blue (not very bright) and definitely has pictures of kids but no light bulbs yet.  well, i love to have an excuse to redecorate!

his blog is called the frontal cortex.

other people's food.

perhaps you already saw this, but i had to share because of this especially amazing egg cup.
more here.

franziska neubert

let the bologna sharing begin!
more of franziska's work here

too much cool in the world

sorry to waste your mornings for you!
but I can't help it!
it's love over and over again.
you know if I had a kid right now this is how I would dress her.
lookie here

AAAAMAZING!

From here.
Via here. [which, incidentally, is my new love today]

lane smith

is also a great one. 

and i just found a fun blog he writes called curious pages, recommended inappropriate books for kids.

mermaid

are you still drawing mermaids?  this one is from here.  the artist is paolo del toro.

jon klassen

this guy is incredible!
had seen his work before, but can't remember if I sent it to you...

also, got the bologna 2008 catalog [yes, I know that was a few years ago, but I am playing catch up] and there are SO many amazing illustrators in there. will share in the next few days, once I've had a closer look.

♥

william steig

thinking about william steig today.  he's so great.

just found this great web exhibit from jewish museum website.  here's the drawing i made from 5 lines project at end of exhibit.  so fun.

I found this from Fletcher and the Falling Leaves and wanted to put it up!

fletcher and the falling leaves

looking at vicki's blog reminded me of this book that i read recently at powells and meant to tell you about.  have you seen it?  i think it's wonderful.  you can read the first few pages here.

Victoria Jamieson

this illustration cracks me up!  i thought i'd share with you my new friend/teacher's blog.  she's posting synopsis of what she's teaching each week in class and i think it's pretty great information.  you can follow along and it'll be like you're taking the class too!

jamie oliver

i love jamie oliver.  john and i have been watching his new tv show, Food Revolution (is built to be suspenseful and have a dramatic arc in an annoying tv way, but is still pretty fun to watch) which inspired me to make us fresh pasta for dinner.   it was a hilarious mess and very delicious.  lesson learned: do not bother with elegant bowl made of flour containing 6 eggs unless are willing to lose 2 eggs over the edge of the counter.   (also, watched his TED talk today in avoidance of cleaning room.)
 

still into words....

The secret must stay
and – according to the scientists –
the love will live.
The heart is quite comfortable with secrets.
After all, its home is a dark wet place
tucked in among all the other organs
who aren't talking either.

From: Sharp Teeth: Toby Barlow

[I haven't read the book, just this review]

about words

So, I've been playing around on Goodreads - purely to kill time in that way interwebs [I've been reading this word everywhere and while I am slightly embarrassed to be seduced by the cuteness of it - there it is] allows you to, and I came across this woman who writes really long reviews - insightful, thought provoking reviews. And I loved reading them. Thought you might enjoy. Here's one for Twilight [which I actually haven't read - but have been circling - ugh guilty pleasure]. But this one for The Little Red Fish is also pretty great.

I just emailed two girls who are finishing their MFA to ask how they were feeling. Feel like a total nerd. Am such a fan of this girl - Kristy Caldwell. Not sure if you remember me telling you about her, but she did this book There is No Picnic Without a Pickle, which I loved....

I found this girl Anna Raff via Illustration Friday....she went to SVA...anyway, like the birds a lot.

amazing. via fideli sundqvist.

Untitled from Fideli Sundqvist on Vimeo.

Found this blog via happysilly [which I adore.]
It has lovely pictures like this one. Oh how I love Sweden.
When can we go on a trip there, already?